Chapter 29:

"There you two are." I glanced up at Proximo and smiled at him with a sleeping girl on my lap. The energy she had burned away quickly and we spent most of the afternoon just talking about everything and getting to know one another.

"Sorry. I meant to mind link but I-"

"Don't be sorry." He knelt down, collecting the little girl and holding her against his shoulder. "Come on." I grabbed his hand, letting him pull me off the ground as Maia let out a small tired moan.

"Thank you." I continued holding his hand making me nod and push Maia further up his body. We walked out of the large, what looked like a dance studio and into the hallway. Neither of us said a word, not wanting to wake her up from her quiet slumber.

Maia had admitted to me that she wasn't sleeping well since she felt alone and isolated. She couldn't sleep because of her lack of trust while when she was able to sleep, she was plagued by nightmares.

It hurt to know that a girl so young was having such a life and couldn't even escape in her sleep. Even I could sleep without a constant reminder of nightmares, of course, it took a while to ignore and pushed aside those dreams, but I was able to after a while.

But a young girl couldn't control her mind like an adult.

I couldn't help but feel for the young girl, now seeing how we have so much in common and the thought of us having things in common was worse than us being polar opposites.

I lived a hard life, suffer through great losses, hated and fear by many people in the Lore. I could handle the struggles, I had friends and Proximo to be with me. Maia had no one...

"We'll take care of her, Hrudra. Don't worry." Proximo assures me, tightening his grasp around my hand for reassurance. I smiled at him, thankful that our bond was so tightly knitted that he understood what I was wanting.

"I just worry about her. She told me many things about her life and I can't think about my own. I wish that my suffering could keep other people from suffering." I admit to him with a sigh.

"Good people always suffer. That's just life." He says simply, calming my mind a tad bit.

"I know. I just wished to take her pain away." I huff making him chuckle.

"Come on. Let's just get her into bed. Then we'll have the meeting with the Alpha and discuss plans for ending this war. We won't leave her for long." He tells me softly when I nodded and peered around his shoulder to see Maia still sleeping calmly.

"Okay. Let's hurry then." I nod again, opening the door for him that connected to our little living space.

〰〰〰

"I want you to eliminate the leader, Hrudra the cold beast. The three demons-"

"They have names Alpha." I cut in, not enjoying her tone towards us. She glanced up from the map she was staring at and narrowed her brown eyes at me.

"My apologies, Hrudra. Proximo, Arley, and Rogan. You will be assisting Hrudra to-"

"I am going as well." Valrun cuts in, swiftly walking into the office as the Alpha glared at her with a deadly look. I could tell that we were testing her patience since it was wildly known that Alphas don't take people cutting them off well.

"You are not. Last time we let you leave you had a episode." The Alpha tells her ignoring her presence with the menace in her voice not going unnoticed by everyone.

"I need to come and defend my leader," Valrun argues, nodding to me with power in her gaze. I smiled back, thankful that she was still on my side as my commander and best friend.

"You nearly cost us people because you saw someone. I am sorry Valkyrie but you can not come with us. I don't want to risk your life just for you to prove yourself to Hrudra." The Alpha shook her head and peered at me with a hard gaze. "You have to agree, Hrudra. Are you truly wishing to risk her out on the field?" She asks me, having all eyes on me.

I looked at Valrun as she saw the doubt in my eyes. I wanted her to come with us, but with what happened yesterday still reminded me of what could happen if she had another flashback in battle.

Was I willing to risk her life just for her to go out and fight?

"Hrudra... You can't be serious." Valrun says, pulling me from my thoughts as I opened my mouth to say something but shut it quickly. She stared at me shocked, her silver eyes reflecting the betrayal laying beneath them.

"I can't have you go out there," I told her seriously before glancing over at Rogan's fuming face. "Not without Rogan." I turned back to Valrun, seeing her hurt turn into fury.

"Excuse me?" She snarls.

"I have the same question, Valkyrie." The Alpha admits with a spark of interest in her brown eyes.

"Rogan helps Valrun pull from the trance of her flashbacks. He may be the root cause to her flashbacks but in all my years of knowing her, she's never recovered from a flashback so quickly as yesterday. I believe that if they were together at all times, I will feel as if she can handle being out in battle." I explain to each of them.

"I will not be tied down with that demon! I don't need to be with anyone!" Valrun snaps at me when the Alpha nodded.

"Good. I agree with this condition." She says in agreement while I turned to Rogan, ignoring Valrun's fit.

"Would you agree to be with her?" I ask, hiding the sly smile that crept up on my face. Proximo and Rogan shared a look before Rogan turned to me with a short nod.

"I'll protect her with my life." He assures me when Valrun snatched my arm and forced me to look at her.

"I will not be having a babysitter." She hisses at me. "I don't need anyone. I've got myself." I stared at her for a moment before pulling my arm from her grasp.

"You don't get to decide. I gave you an option to come with us. I don't want you to risk your fucking life just to fight with us. Take it or I will lock you up." I told her, authority lacing through my words as she glared at me then switched her gaze to Rogan.

He didn't say anything, just staring at her hurt that she didn't want him watching her back. I couldn't blame him, I'm sure that Proximo felt the same way with my antics.

"You won't be locking me up, Hrudra." She says without pulling her gaze off of Rogan's watchful gaze.

"You won't be leaving without him with you by your side. You need to learn how to work as a team with everyone here. Even Rogan and Arley." I point out, knowing she was avoiding both of the demons and only speaking with Proximo comfortably.

She narrowed her eyes at Rogan while the rest of us watched them. It was as if there was a war between the two and Valrun seemed to be running out of patience with all of us. Rogan just seemed calm and collected, even though she was tearing him apart with her hurtful words, he just remained there with a cold exterior.

He amazed me at times.

"This is the only way?" She asks, finally tearing her gaze from Rogan and spying me with an evil glint.

"Yes. We left Folkvangr and I took it in me to watch over all of the Valkyries who pledged allegiance with me. You won't leave this house without him by your side." I answer seriously making her sigh.

"Fine." She gritted out before leaving the room of people. I glanced over at Rogan, waiting for me to give him the go ahead when I nodded and let him escape after her.

"Seeing as you dealt with that issue, Hrudra. I believe I am done with you for right now. As long as you know your mission, you are free to go." The Alpha tells me, already staring down at the map and not paying much attention to me.

I shook my head, turning away and grabbing Proximo's hand while walking out of the room. He allowed me to pull him out of the room when I heard someone yelling outside.

"She's fighting with him," Proximo explains to me as I nodded and looked up at him.

"I know. That's what I am counting on."

〰〰〰

"Omph!" I landed on the ground, groaning in pain as Valrun paced in front of me with anger fuming from her. Heavy pants left me while I shifted on the ground and laid back on the ground.

Rogan, Proximo, and Maia stared at me with concern making me smile at all three of them. Maia sat in Proximo's lap, huddled close since she was still uncomfortable around Rogan and Valrun. Valrun especially since she was fighting with me and letting her anger out on me.

I wouldn't admit it, but she was growing stronger with her emotions. Or maybe I was growing weaker with not training as much as I did before meeting Proximo. Not saying I would go back to those times anyway.

"You're getting weaker. You're not training as you were before." She hisses down at me when I tilted my head to look up at her. The silver within her eyes watching mine carefully with fury going through her body making me frown and slowly get off the ground.

"You are letting your emotions get ahold of you," I told her, stretching my muscles above my head.

"Whatever." She waved off, turning around and searching for something. "Where the fuck is-"

I snatched her arm before she could walk away, forcing her to look at me. My foot swept underneath her legs as she fell down, her back slamming on the ground. In a flash, I was above her with my hand around her throat and my claws lengthening.

Valrun gasped, trying to tear my hand away as I glared down at her angrily. I couldn't even think about what was happening around me, I was just really angry that she was acting in such a way in front of a child.

She should know that she shouldn't be cursing or acting like an asshole in front of Maia. That girl has already been through enough and she was already scared of Valrun, all Valrun was doing was frightening the girl.

"Alright. Up you go." I was lifted off Valrun as I struggled to grasp on her neck again. Proximo held onto me while Maia clutched onto my leg, immediately calming me down.

"What was that for?!" She screeched, holding onto Rogan's arm while I pushed Proximo's hand off of me.

"Do not curse in front of her. She's just a child." I hiss angrily, kneeling down to collect the girl. "I am not weak, I only worry about my safety now. Unlike some people I know." I growl at her, turning away before walking into the house with Maia on my waist.

Proximo followed closely behind me, his hand hovering on my back and steering me towards our room. Maia remained quiet, clutching to my neck and pushing her tiny face into my shoulder.

I was fuming with anger and yet I couldn't help it. Even though Valrun had done things to piss me off and was a bad role model in front of Maia, I couldn't explain why I felt so protective of her. There had to be a reason for my feelings for the girl.

I felt Proximo's hand softly rub my back, giving me the reassurance I needed. The actions settled my need to hit something as we entered our room.

"Go grab a shower. I'm going to lay her down." He told me, taking Maia from me and nodding to the bathroom. I nodded thankfully, my hands still shaking from the fight I had but I did what he suggested and went to the bathroom.

Once I was inside, I quickly stripped off my clothes and climbed into the shower. The cool water ran across my shoulder blades making me lean against the granite wall.

I felt so irritated and there was nothing I could do.

I've never felt so helpless.

"Hrudra?" Proximo came into the bathroom, closing the door behind him as I peered out of the shower door and saw him coming towards me. "Are you okay?" He asks worriedly when I sighed and turned the water a little warmer.

"Yeah. I didn't expect to get so riled up. Sorry." I mumbled, pushing my wet copper hair out of my face. He smiled softly at me, beginning to remove his clothes.

"Don't apologize." He said, pulling the door open to join me in the shower. I nodded softly, leaning my face on his chest and sighing. His hands wrapped around my waist, pushing me in the line of spray.

"Did you really come in here to get clean?" I question him with a sly smile when he let me go, softly pushing me against the granite wall. He didn't answer the question, pressing a kiss against my neck as I rose my hands to tangle in his hair.